HP Introduces Service for Application Threat Analysis

Hello everyone! I’d love to share with you an exciting development that came out of Palo Alto, California on June 10, 2010. You might know a little company by the name of HP, right? Well, they came up with something revolutionary in the world of cybersecurity. They unveiled a service targeted at the most critical open doors to cyber threats – applications.

Why applications, you ask? Well, think about it. Every single company has applications, right? And every application is in continuous development. Now, these development cycles are where vulnerabilities can sneak in – either due to overlooked issues or insufficiently addressed concerns. And these issues can be small holes that cyber threats can exploit, leading to potential losses worth millions.

So, what HP did was create the Comprehensive Applications Threat Analysis (we can call it the CATA, just to make it sound cool). This is an industry-first. It’s essentially a security check-up for applications, but, instead of waiting till the end of the development life cycle to see what’s wrong, it conducts the check-up in the early stages.

The CATA does two major things. It first conducts an in-depth study of your applications looking for gaps in their security. Remember, these security requirements aren’t about whether your application is airtight; they’re about compliance with laws, regulations, and practices that might be imposed on you. If there are gaps, this means there are potential vulnerabilities, and these are the chinks in the armor that cyber threats love to exploit.

Once the CATA has examined your applications and architecture, it provides you with some solid strategies to mitigate any issues that pop up. It also gives you a better understanding of how to design your applications with security in mind – pretty valuable if you ask me!

The other key thing the CATA does takes care of the security of your application architectures. It doesn’t just stop at identifying potential changes you could make, it also gives you a sense of how this might help reduce the probability of unattended security issues cropping up in the future. Reducing these “latent defects”, as they’re called, can help minimize your overall rework costs, letting you truly benefit from your security scanning and penetration testing efforts.

The aim of all this? Help companies better address security and regulatory needs while also reducing the total cost of application ownership. It’s like having a trusted security expert by your side during the tumultuous journey of application development. Want an example of how this has helped? The State of Oregon implemented the new service and was thrilled with their progress. They were able to identify risks, propose solutions and mitigate their vulnerabilities with the help of HP.

HP doesn’t just stop with the CATA though. They also offer a suite of software and services that help you keep your applications secure throughout their entire life cycle – from conception, to design, to launch, and even operation.

Now hold on, I hear you asking, why is this relevant to us in healthcare? Well, we’re just as vulnerable to cyber threats as anyone, if not more. We handle sensitive data; a breach could mean trouble for us and the people we care for. Being informed about and implementing advanced cybersecurity measures like CATA is just what we need to ensure the highest security.

So, that’s about it folks! This is not just about HP or one service they offer. This is about staying one step ahead in this complex world of cybersecurity – and don’t we all want that?

by Morgan Phisher | HEAL Security